Washington D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) spoke on the House Floor to pay tribute to the extraordinary life and legacy of Julian L. McPhillips, Jr., “the People’s Lawyer of Alabama,” who passed away on April 12, 2025, at the age of 78. Sewell highlighted McPhillips’ distinguished five-decades-long legal career and spoke passionately about the special mentoring relationship they shared.

Rep. Sewell will participate in the memorial service for McPhillips on Monday, June 23, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Montgomery.

Watch it on YouTube here.

Rep. Sewell: Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the extraordinary life and legacy of Julian L. McPhillips Jr., “the People's Lawyer of Alabama,” who passed away on April 12, 2025, at the age of 78. Julian was a compassionate lawyer, a devoted family man, an obedient man of God, a dedicated servant leader in Montgomery, Alabama, and a dear mentor who was instrumental in my personal and professional development.

Julian was born in Birmingham and raised in Cullman, Alabama. He was a gifted athlete and a graduate of Sewanee Military Academy. He became an All-American wrestler at Princeton and graduated Cum Laude in 1968 with a degree in history. He earned his law degree from Columbia University Law School in 1971, and began his legal career on Wall Street. 

Julian returned to Alabama in 1975 and launched his own Montgomery-based law firm in 1978, which became known as McPhillips Shinbaum, LLP. As a lawyer in Alabama for over five decades, Julian gave a voice to the voiceless, representing the marginalized and disenfranchised. He took a bold stand against discrimination of all kinds and was a champion for civil rights, labor rights, and social justice.

Among his many victories, Julian successfully challenged laws targeting low-income Alabamians and civil rights activists, and he secured acquittals in all five death penalty cases he undertook. His fearless advocacy for the marginalized earned him the moniker of “the People's Lawyer.” He was a brilliant lawyer, fierce advocate, and a generous investor in people and just causes.

Julian's heart was his family, his beloved wife Leslie, his three children, Rachel, Grace and David, and his seven grandchildren, as well as his surviving siblings, his two sisters, Sandra and Elizabeth, and his brother Frank. 

On a personal note, my life's journey was paved by many mentors, but none more influential than the special relationship I shared with Julian McPhillips. It was a phone call from Julian when I was a senior at Selma High School inviting me to his home to learn about Princeton that set my life on a different course. Julian had read a newspaper article about my winning national debate tournaments and got in touch with me through my high school guidance counselor.

Julian's love for Princeton was infectious, and his insistence that I apply was relentless. He wrote me a glowing recommendation letter, telling the admissions officers that with a Princeton education, I would surely be the Barbara Jordan of Alabama.

There were countless times throughout my life's journey that Julian stood in the gap, making sure that I didn't fall through the cracks. It was Julian that gave me a summer job before college at his law offices so I could save money for school. And while my parents could not afford to visit Princeton, it was Julian and Leslie that came to campus for athletic and alumni events and always took me and my roommates out to lunch or dinner.

And when I graduated from Harvard Law School, it was Julian who suggested that I apply to work at his old New York law firm, Davis Polk & Wardwell, and made the call. And when I moved back to Alabama seven years later, after my father's massive stroke, it was Julian who suggested that I give his brother Frank a call to learn about his Birmingham law firm, Maynard Cooper & Gale. And when I decided to run for Congress, yes, it was the McPhillips brothers, Julian and Frank, that gave me my first checks.

When Julian believed in something or someone, he was relentless. Julian's faith in me was unwavering, and his kindness knew no bounds. His belief was so powerful that he made me believe in me, too. And so, when his prediction came true, it was Julian and Leslie that stood with my parents as I placed my hand on our family Bible to be sworn in as Alabama's first Black congresswoman.

There are times in a person's life that change the trajectory of one's life. Some may call it serendipity, but I call it divine intervention. 

To Leslie and the entire McPhillips family, I say thank you. Thank you for sharing Julian with me and my family. 

To Julian, I say thank you for being one of the angels in my life. I am so proud to call you a lifelong mentor and friend, and I am forever grateful for the profound impact that Julian had on my life.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the extraordinary life and legacy of the People's Lawyer, Julian L. McPhillips, Jr. 

May his legacy live on in the many lives that he touched. Rest in power and peace, my dear friend.

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